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Let me explain: the most delicious egg dishes don’t ever hit the oven. When testing these recipes, discovering that covering the pan creates a steamy environment for cooking the egg tops, delivering a gently cooked soft-cooked egg featuring set whites plus liquid yolk. The intense, dry heat from baking proves harsher versus moist heat, often leading making dishes dry and overcook the yolk. Presenting two flavorful bases to get started, encouraging customization. One is a super-simple coconut turmeric blend, while the merguez ragu reimagines eggs in purgatory, or, to the likes of you and me, eggs cooked in zesty tomato base.

Golden Coconut Sauce Baked Eggs (shown above)

Prep 10 minutes
Cook Just under an hour
Yields Two servings

Olive oil
One medium onion, skinned and diced
Fine sea salt
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
Fresh ginger root, grated ginger
Golden spice
Toasted cumin
Aromatic leaves
200ml coconut milk
Chickpeas
Basil leaves, with more for garnish
Fresh eggs
2 green finger chillies, finely sliced, to serve

Use a heavy skillet at moderate-high temperature. Add a shot of olive oil, add the chopped onion seasoned with salt, fry until softened. Mix in garlic, ginger, and spices, let them sizzle, occasionally stirring for a few minutes, add coconut milk and the chickpeas and their tin liquid. Let it bubble, reduce to a simmer, let it simmer for half an hour, when sauce is rich and yellow. Add salt to taste, incorporate basil.

Use the back of a spoon making four indentations within the sauce, add eggs individually. Dust each egg lightly salted, then cover the pan with a lid, gently heat for two to three minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks just warm. Take off the heat, top with fresh herbs and thinly sliced finger chillies, and serve.

Merguez Ragu with Tangy Peppers Baked Eggs

Preparation 10 minutes
Cooking time 45 min
Yields 2

Oil
Merguez sausages
1 tbsp harissa
1 tsp cumin seeds
Garlic cloves, sliced thin
Tomato base
Salt
Fresh eggs
1 handful pickled peppers, coarsely cut
Fresh parsley, finely chopped
3 tbsp thick Greek yoghurt
Fresh lemon, sliced into wedges, for serving

Set a 25cm heavy cast-iron pot on a medium heat. Add two tablespoons of olive oil once hot, remove the skins from the sausages and break off pieces adding to pan, like mini balls. Reduce heat, cook until golden, extracting spicy fats. Stir merguez as they cook, for even browning.

Once browned, mix in spices and garlic to the pot, turn up the heat to medium sauté while stirring, briefly, until aromatic, with garlic cooked. Tip in the tomatoes, salt to taste let it bubble. Turn down the heat to low and leave to blip away for twenty minutes. Ragu thickens, thicken and deepen in colour, as oils separate.

Employ utensil to create four little pockets across base, then crack an egg into each. Sprinkle the top of each egg with a little salt, then cover the pan with a lid. Cook for two to three minutes over a low heat, until whites firm and yolks warmed.

Remove from heat, garnish with peppers, herbs, yogurt dollop, plus oil drizzle, with lemon on side.